Ballot-box.



No. 781,586. PATENTED JAN. 31, 1905.

L. F. & H. L. K. BIBSEMEYER. BALLOT BOX.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 17,1904.

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No. 781,586. PATENTED JAN.31, 1905. L. P. & H. L. K. BIESEMEYER.

BALLOT BOX.

APPLIGATION FILED ooT.11,19o4.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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/emw W I Qimmy iUNiTEn STATES Patented January 31, 1905,

FFICE.

LORENZ F. BIESEMEYER. OF WESlPI'lALL-t, AND HENRY L. K. BI'ESEMEYER, OF WARRENTON, MlSSOURl.

BALLOT-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 781,586, dated January 31, 1905.

Application tiled October 17, 1904. Serial No. 228,825.

To (L/ /r/mm if 7111/1/ calmer/b:

Be it known that we, LORENZ F. Bmsn- Mnvnr.. residing atll'estphalia, Osage county, and l'lnxizr L. li. Btnsaunrnn, residing at ll'arrenton, lVarren county, State ot' Missouri, citizens ot' the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ballot-Boxes; and we do declare the Yt'oilowing to be a i'ull, clear, and exact description ot' the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to malte and use the same.

Our invention relates to improvements in ballot-boxes ot' the ball type t'or use by secret or fraternal societies in balloting or casting votes t'or new candidates t'or memlnxrship and t'or other purposes.

rlhe object ot' the invention is to provide a device oi this character which shall be simple in construction, comparatively inexpensive ot' production, and exceedingly useful t'or the purpose t'or which it is designed.

tl'ith the above and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel features ot' cmistruction, combination, and arrangement is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the line 3 3 ot' Fig. 2. Fig. 1 isa horixontal sectional view taken on the line l 1 of Fig. 2. Fig. isa perspective view ot' one ot the, operating-levers. Fig. e' is a perspective view ot the ballot-box with a modified torni otl ball-droppingmechanism mounted therein. Fig. T is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the same, and Fig. isa horizontal sectional view taken on the line 8 S of Fig. T.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive. ot the drawings, the numeral 1 denotes the casing, consisting ot' a base or bottom two sides 3, a t'ront end e, and a top 5, having' a portion hinged, at 6, to t'orm a swinging cover or closure. The t'ront end l,

which is preferably formed ot sheet metal and curved, as shown, has a hand-opening 9 located centrally and adjacent to its upper 5o edge and provided with a curved guard or hood 10. This guarded opening' is otl suf'licient size to permit the hand ot a voter to be inserted in the casing to operate the ballotball dropping mechanism, hereinafter de- 55 scribed. the guard 10 preventingpersons standing near by Vt'rom observing how the voter casts his ballot. 'lhe rear end ot' the casing 1 is closed by a removable t'rame 11. consisting ot' t'ront and rear ends 12 and 13, connect- 6o ed b v spaced verticallydisposed blocks or strips le. This trame may be removably secured in the casing in any desired manner, but pre terably by serews`15, which are passed through the side walls 3 ol the latter and into 65 the end walls 12 and 123 otl said trame. The rear end 13ot` said trame, which correspondsin size to that otI the end ot the casing which it closes, is t'ormcd in its lower edge with a recess 1T, through which a drawer 18 is adapted t0 7o slide. Said drawer rests upon the bottom 2 ot' the casing and is guided by strips 19, secured on the latter. A swinging catch Q0 or a lock of any description may be provided upon the rear end 1I) ot' the trame to hold the sliding 75 drawer in its closed position. Said drawer, which is disposed below thespacedconnecting blocks or boards 1-L, is provided with a central longitudinally-extending partition 21. which divides it into two compartments :ulapted to SO receive the black and white ballot-ball from the dropping mechanisms mounted in said trame. lt' desired, the inner end ot said partition may he provided with a removable extension 22, provided ior a purpose presently 85 explained. 'lwo ballot-ball-droppingmechanisms are mounted in the trame 11, one t'or the white ballot-balls and the other t'or the black ones used in machines ot' this character. Each of these mechanisms, which are iden- 9C tical in construction, comprises an operating'- lever Q3, formed with a curved vt'ront or inner end 21e, which extends through and moves in a slot 25, formed in the frontend wall 12 ot said trame. Said slotservcs tolimitthe movement 95 ot' said lever. Said forwardly and upwardly curved end 2-1 ot' said lever is provided with a removable hey or button 27. which is suitably colored, the key upon one lever being black and that upon the other being' white. The rear end of said lever 23 is divided or bifurcatcd to form arms 28 and 29, which are pivoted, as at 30, upon one of the connecting' blocks or boards 14. The outer arm 29 of said lever is disposed in a slotted portion 31 of said block 14, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The arms 28 and 29 of said lever coact with a transversely-extendingI valveopening 32,which is formed in said block 14, in order to open and close the same. Said valve-opening 32 communicates with the lower end of a curved feeding-tube 33, which is secured upon the outer face of the block 14 by means of brackets 34 and 35. The arm 28 of the lever is formed with a semicircular recess 36 and the arm 29 with asimilar recess 37 and a projection 38, these recesses and projections being' so disposed that when the lever 23 is in elevated position one of the balls fed through the tube 33 will be permitted to enter between the two arms of said lever, so that when the latter is depressed said ball will be discharged through the opposite end of said valve-opening. Then the lever is in its lowered position, the projection 38 will close the lower end of said tube to prevent more than one ball from passing' through the valve-opening. The lever 23 is retracted or held in its elevated position by a coil-spring 39, having one end connected to said lever and its other end secured to a recessed portion of said block 14. The upper ends of said feeding-tubes 33 aline with openings 34, formed in the swinging top or cover of the casing l, sol that ballot-'ball'receptacles or hoppers 40 may be passed through said openings in the cover and removably engaged with the upper ends of said feeding-tubes. These receptacles or hoppers, one of which is provided for black balls and the other for white balls, may be of any suitable form and construction; but, as shown, they consist of cylindrical tubes having their outer surfaces colored, one white and the other black. They may be of any suitable size, according to the number of balls to be used.

The operation and advantages of the machine will be readily understood from the 'foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying'drawings. VYhen the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the voter inserts his hand through the hooded opening 9 and depresses one or the other of the two levers 23. The depression of the lever with the black button or key will cause a black ball to be dropped into one compartment of the sliding drawer, and adepression of the lever with the white button or key will cause a white ball to be dropped into the other compartment of said drawer. If desired, bells 4l may be provided in each compartment of the drawer in line with the valveopening in the block 14, so that when the ball l is discharged through the same it will strike. and ring: said bell to indicate thata vote or ballot has been cast. It will be seen that thc eX- tension 22 upon the partition in the sliding drawer extends upwardly between the valveopenings upon the inner faces of the blocks 14, and thus causes the balls discharged from said opening to enter the proper compartment in the drawer.

In Figs. 6 to 8, inclusive, of the drawings is shown a different form of ballot-ball-dropping mechanism. The outer casing of this machine is the same as that of the one previously described, and the frame 45, which corresponds to the frame 11, consists of front and rear ends 46 and 47 connected by a sin- Agle centrally-disposed block or board 48.

Upon opposite sides of said block 48 are secured vertically-disposed blocks 49, formed with vertically-extending bores or channels 50. Extending' through each of said blocks 49 is a slide 51, formed at its front end with areduced cylindrical portion or stem 52,which extends through and slides in the front wall 47 of said frame and has upon its outer end a knob or button 53, said knob or button upon one slide being black and upon the other white. The rear ends of said slides 51.which extend through said blocks 49, are formed with valve-openings 54, which are adapted to be moved into and out of alinement with said bores or channels 50 in the blocks 49. one of said knobs is moved inwardly, its valveopening alines with one of the bores 50, so as to receive the lowermost ball in the bore 50, with which it alines, and when said knob is pulled outwardly said valve-opening will be moved out of the block 49 to permit the ball contained therein to drop into one of the compartments of the drawer located beneath the same. These slides 51 are held in their retracted positition by coil-springs 56, their forward movement being limited by the shoulder formed by reducing the end 52 and their rearward movement being limited by their rear ends engaging the end wall 46 of the frame 45. The upper ends of the bores or channels 50 in the blocks 49 are disposed directly beneath openings 57, formed in the swinging cover of the casing 1, so that the tubular receptacles or hoppers 40 may be passed through the same and removably engaged with said bores 50.

If desired, the swinging' top or cover of the casing 1 may be formed with two sets of openings, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, so that either form of ballot-ball-dropping mechanism may be used in the machine, the ballotball receptacles or tubes 40 being inserted through the proper opening, as will be readily understood.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, the operation and advantages of the device will be readily apparent without requiring a l/Vhen IOO niore extended explanation. be inade at sinall cost and will be found exceedingly nsetnl and convenient.

Nliile we bave sliown and described tlie preferred einbodinientot' oni' invention, it will be understood tliat we do not desire to liinit ourselves to tbe precise construction liei'ein ser t'ortli, since vai-ions changes in tlie forni, proportion, and tlie niinor details of c0nstrnction inay be resorted to witliont dei'iarting' Tlie device can i i i l provided witli a transverse opening' and a balldiict leading' tliereto, a vertically-inovable lever pivotally connected to eacli of said blocks, eacli ot' said levers liav'ing' parallel arnis inovableacross and on opposite sidesot said opening', tbe ai'in on tlie inner side ol said opening' having' a cnt-oli' portion and an opening' to alternately register witli said opening'. tlie lroin tlie principle or sacriiicing' any of tlie advantages of tliis invention.

Havingl tlins described our invention, what we claiin as new, and desire to secure by Let- I 1. A ballot-box liaving' a block provided witli a transverse opening', a ball-duct leading' tliereto, a vertically-niova ble levei' liaving' parallel arnis inovable across and on opposite sides ot said opening', tlie arin on tlie inner side ot' said opening' having' a cnt-oit' portion :ind an opening' to alternately register witli said opening', tlie arin on tlie outer side of tlie said opening' being' opposite tlie opening' in tlieotlier arin, and a spring' to normally raise l said lever, substantially as described.

2. ballot-box liaving' spaced blocks eacli 

